


The Gift of One’s Self

by blueboxesandtrafficcones



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2020 [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, First Crush, First Meetings, No Sex, Sex Shop, Sex Talk, Sex Toys, just implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27870266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboxesandtrafficcones/pseuds/blueboxesandtrafficcones
Summary: Sparks fly when just before Christmas Jane comes into the adult toy store where Rose works, leading them to reevaluate what they think they’re looking for in a partner and making the connection of a lifetime.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037040
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27
Collections: 31 Days of Ficmas 2020





	The Gift of One’s Self

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3 of 2020's 31 Days of Ficmas.
> 
> Prompt: shopping

Rose stood behind the cash register, humming along to the Christmas music piping through the store. It was her first Christmas season in several years not spent at Henricks, and though she was still in retail, the boutique adult toy shop she’d joined in August had an easier-going pace; though business had picked up in the last few weeks as December drew near, it didn’t come close to the frenetic pace of the department store.

Especially not at ten in the morning on a random Tuesday.

The bell above the door tinkled, forewarning the entrance of a customer, and she straightened from where she’d been slouched on the counter, pasting on her best customer service smile. “Good morning, welcome to _Handled With Love_ , can I help you today?”

The woman bee-lined towards her, eyes wide and directed towards the ground, and Rose held back a sigh. She was late twenties like Rose, also with peroxide blonde hair, and the overpowering air of someone who had never seen a sex toy before, and didn’t want to now. Her cheeks were already crimson, and likely not from the reasonably moderate temperature outside. _This’ll be fun._

“Hi,” the woman muttered, peeking up at Rose as she reached the counter. “Erm, I’m here for a pickup – Amy Pond? It’s Hen Night stuff. She called to say I was coming. Jane Smythe?”

“Yes, of course, hang on.” Rose verified the details in the order book, glancing at the woman’s proffered ID long enough to confirm the name. “Thank you.” Turning, she dragged the prepared bag out from under the back counter, settling it before the woman with a thunk. “Shall I review the order with you?”

The woman, Jane, had found enough courage to lift her head, but was staring at the sample-size lubes in front of the cash register with more than a hint of fear. “Er…” Fumbling in her pocket, she pulled out a piece of paper. “Can you just…”

Rose accepted it, laying it on the desk and checking off the items compared to the order. “First time in a sex shop?”

“That obvious?” Jane flinched. “Erm, yeah. I don’t really… _do_ that.”

“What, have sex?” Rose’s eyes widened in horror, darting up to look at the woman, cringing inside. “I’m so sorry, that was completely inappropriate. Forget I asked.”

Surprisingly, she relaxed slightly, offering Rose a tentative smile. “It’s okay. And, yeah, basically. I’m… I’ve never had an interest in it. Amy called it something- but, honestly, I’d already tuned her out.”

“Asexual. Means you don’t experience any sexual attraction.” Her own cheeks heated a little; part of the reason she’d taken this job (against her mother’s objections) was to lose some of her prudishness, wanting to be more comfortable with her own sexuality. That had meant a crash course in all things preference and gender related, all kindly included as part of her on-boarding. “Nothing wrong with that.” Checking off the last item, she folded the list back up and handed it over. “I just need you to sign here,” she slid the order page over, “as confirmation of pick-up. It’s all paid for already. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Jane bit her lip, warm brown eyes darting around. “Well… actually, I need a hen party gift, and Amy suggested I try something here. But I know _nothing_ about any of it. Like I said.”

Rose gave her another warm smile. “I’d be happy to help,” she agreed. “D’you have a car you want to take this to first, or keep it behind the desk until you’re ready to go? Just so you’re not lugging it around the store.”

“I’ll take it to the car,” she said with gratitude. “Excellent idea. I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tale.” Gingerly grabbing the bag, she gave Rose a grin and trotted out the door, holding the bag away as if it was a bomb.

_This’ll be interesting, if she comes back._

* * *

She did, and Rose spent over an hour helping her – it didn’t take long to find something for the bride-to-be, but to Rose’s surprise, halfway to the register the woman confessed that she was maybe open to finding something for herself. It had taken all of Rose’s experience in retail to not react to that, and eventually, helped her pick out something fairly tame that was a good ‘starter’.

Jane crossed her mind occasionally throughout the day, bringing a smile to Rose’s face – it had felt good, to help someone get more in touch with themself, and when she slid into bed that night and pulled out her own favorite “massager” (thank you employee discount!), her thoughts drifting towards the other woman and her toy, she realized she’d been attracted to her.

_Oh._ Switching off the vibrator Rose sat up, staring blankly at the wall. _Is that what this is?_ With the exception of an experimental phase shortly after the crashing and burning of her relationship with Jimmy, she’d never really considered the idea. It wasn’t that she was opposed to dating girls, she’d just… never really done it, other than a few drunken hookups. _Is that what I want?_

She had lots of questions, but no answers – the most pressing being, _Will I ever even see her again?_

* * *

Jane sat on her bed, knees curled up to her chest, staring at the innocent-looking wand sitting in front of her. Asking the shop girl about it had been instinct – purely a delay tactic, not ready to leave her presence but not sure why. She’d felt funny, talking to her – like she had a menagerie inside her stomach, her palms sweaty and shaky.

_No, not ‘shopgirl’. Rose._ “Rose,” she said out loud, savoring the feel of name on her tongue. The woman’s face flashed before her eyes, Jane’s heart jumping at just the thought of her – but it wasn’t just her face. An odd pulsing feeling low in her hips had cropped up every time Rose had smiled at her, pink tongue peeking through pearly white teeth; even now, Jane’s stomach swooped at the thought.

“This has never happened to me before,” she informed the vibrator, feeling a need to defend herself – against what, she didn’t know. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” That was a lie; like any good scientist, she’d googled the sensations as soon as she was home, and been informed she either had some untreatable disease – or a crush. _A crush. I’ve never had one of those._ That was a lie too; she had, once, at uni, but it had been fleeting, easy to squash and a distant memory.

This, so far, hadn’t. In fact, the more she tried _not_ to think about the shopgirl (Rose), the more she did; her bright eyes, her kind smile, the snug fit of her jumper…

_I think I’m in trouble._

* * *

It took Rose the better part of a week (and three good wanks, not that she’d ever admit that) for Jane to fade to a background thought. Throwing herself into Christmas shopping and planning had helped, and by the end of the second week, she’d written the “incident” off as little more than a lapse in judgement, and perhaps excessive vanity or narcissism, given their similar appearance.

In fact, she’d worked so hard to remove the encounter from her memory, that she’d managed to stop her heart from leaping every time the bell chimed. Which meant that when it went off first thing the Monday before Christmas, she didn’t look up from the inventory she was stocking, merely calling, “Welcome to _Handled With Love_ , I’ll be with you in just a mo’.”

“Take your time.”

The familiar voice startled Rose so badly she dropped the armful of inventory, and after ducking down to pick it up, came face to face with a blushing, grinning Jane with an armful of dildos. “Hi,” she said, somewhat breathless, before trying for something more in the realm of professional. “Erm, hello. What brings you in today?”

“Hi.” Jane looked as delighted to see her as Rose felt, butterflies taking flight in her gut. “I- erm- thank you for the recommendation, before. I’m interested in… expanding my collection.”

“You are?” Rose cleared her throat, trying again with less surprise. “I mean, you are?” _I’m never going to get through this if I have to keep repeating myself._ It was almost immediately clearly that while she’d been ignoring the slight attraction she’d felt, it had developed into a full-blown crush on its own.

Jane nodded, twisting her hands in front of her. “Maybe something a little more _advanced_?”

Rose fought desperately to reengage her salesclerk brain. “Sure. What did you think of your previous purchase? What did you like or not like?” Looking down at the armful of artificial cocks she still held, she dumped them back in the box haphazardly. “Shall we?”

* * *

Jane blushed and stuttered her way through the next twenty minutes, shyly admitting to having actually tried with the toy several times but getting disappointing results. Rose was kind and encouraging, gently guiding her towards a different sort of product she thought might help.

The entire time she tried to work up the courage for what she _really_ wanted, dithering over signing the credit card slip in an attempt to delay the inevitable.

“Is everything all right?” Rose asked, wide eyes concerned and feeling like they could see straight through to her soul. “I haven’t pressured you into this, have I? If you’re not happy-”

“It’s not that,” Jane cut her off, tucking her hair behind one ear. “I just… I’m nervous it’s not going to, you know, work. For me.”

Rose nodded. “Sure, I get that. So, our return policy really only applies to things not opened or used – for sanitary reasons – but…” Reaching behind the counter, she pulled out a business card, scribbling quickly on the back. “This is my information, if you’re really not happy I personally guarantee you your money back within 30 days, & I’ve written it here for you. I care more about your happiness than the sale. Okay?”

“Okay.” Jane accepted it, knowing she would never make use of the generous offer – as far as she was concerned, the only thing more embarrassing than _buying_ a sex toy was _returning_ one. Dropping it into her purse, she knew it was now or never. “This might be completely inappropriate-”

“It’s okay, go ahead,” Rose reassured her when she paused.

“Thanks. Erm, the problem may be that I don’t know what I’m doing, with this or the other thing.” Jane licked her lips. “Do you do demonstrations?” _In for a penny, in for a pound_. “Or personal assistance?”

Rose’s eyes widened, and when she didn’t say anything for several seconds, Jane started to pray for death, but before she could take it back, the other woman said, “Only if you buy me dinner first.”

They stared at each other.

“I’m kidding about the ‘you paying’ bit, but… I would like to get to know you better. Would that be okay?”

_Okay? Okay?!_ Jane was practically floating. “Very much so. Maybe dinner, drinks…” she trailed off, sure her face was scarlet, heart ready to beat itself out of her chest. “Mind you, I’ve never done this before.”

“So you keep saying.” Rose’s lips twitched. “How about this – we go Dutch on dinner, I’ll bring a bottle of wine, and if I can’t sufficiently demonstrate the effectiveness of your purchases, I’ll refund them personally _and_ buy you breakfast.”

“Deal.”

They shook on it.

* * *

_A year later_

“Open it, open it, open it,” Rose chanted, bouncing on her knees. They’d decided Christmas morning was just for them, having been at Jackie’s the evening before and going to Jane’s family for lunch, leaving them to enjoying their first Christmas together in their new, shared flat.

“All right, all right,” Jane laughed. “I’d say keep your pants on, but…” she trailed off with a wink, eyes lingering on the ample skin Rose’s skimpy nighty didn’t cover. Not that she was any more covered up, in boy shorts and a tank. “What do we have here?” Tearing at the paper, she was only slightly surprised to see the logo of their favorite brand of adult toys. “You’re a sex fiend, Rose Tyler.”

“Shut up.” Her girlfriend just grinned, waving for her to continue. “You’ll like it, I promise.”

Jane finished removing the paper to find a pair of pink, fuzzy handcuffs still in the box, and laughed. “Are these a gift for you, or me?” She leaned forward, kissing her in thanks. “I do like it, though how much depends on your answer.”

“Both of us, obviously,” Rose replied, tickling her calf. “But turn it over.”

She did, laughing harder at the Blu-Ray of the 1952 movie _Houdini_ – she’d mentioned in passing being a fan of his tricks _weeks_ earlier, and apparently Rose had been listening. “Okay, I love it.” Setting the gifts down, she leaned towards Rose again, this time cupping her cheek and giving her a slower, deeper kiss. “Happy Christmas, my love.”

“Happy Christmas.” Rose opened her eyes, smiling softly. “To many more.”

“Hear, hear. Now, that’s the last of the gifts and we’ve got several hours before we’re due anywhere. What say you we break these in?”

They raced for the bedroom, and in the end, they both won.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> To be perfectly honest (if you've made it this far haha) this fic is somewhat out of my comfort zone, so please let me know if I've made any faux pas or accidentally offended anyone, because that was not my intention.


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